Movie Review Sin 3 - Money buys Reviews and Ratings
The third installment of this series is how media reviews and ratings can be bought and influenced by production houses. One of the insiders within STR's team revealed this week that "a leading online media site#1 asked for a whopping 5 lakhs to write a good review about Podaa Podi & we said them that the content & people who watched it will decide". This triggered us to discuss different ways media reviews and ratings are influenced by money, kind and friendship.
1. "Covers"
Production houses handing over "covers" is one of the oldest techniques to influence positive reviews and ratings. The cover these days could have a few thousand rupees given in the name of travel expenses. It is customary to note that the thickness of the covers translate to higher ratings. This has been prevalent for many years that even the producer of a hugely popular 1996 Blockbuster anti-bribery movie#2 discreetly sent "covers" to the press reviewers desk instead of standard practice of giving it after the press preview shows.
2. "Packages"
The "packages" are now the most popular promotional model to bring additional revenue. Instead of accepting money for individual reviews, the media houses sell various packages through a subsidiary company. A leading English daily#3 covering cinema news as daily supplement sells a package that includes 8 front page cinema articles with photos + interviews + positive review/rating. This 8-article package sells like hot-cakes for 8 lakhs. For small budget films who cannot afford to pay Rs. 8 Lakhs, they have smaller package deals starting from Rs. 2 Lakhs. Another example is one leading Tamil daily#5 accepted 1000 free tickets from the producer of a movie released a few days back in return for a positive review.
The promotional package works similarly in online world with going rates up to Rs. 5 Lakhs. The package consists of 1 week of entry/cover landing page, interviews, positive coverage and reviews. By signing up for these package, the movie is sure to get at least 1/2 to 1 star surplus rating than what it deserves. There is no secret to this partnership model since the movie also thanks them on their title cards by calling them "media partners". Only concern is when a movie producer fails to buy one of these packages, the movie may get dinged lower by at least 1/2 star and scathing reviews.
Last year, a big Diwali movie#4 refused to buy this package from this leading daily. In return, the daily gave poor ratings for the movie. The upset producer stopped placing daily advertisements. This year both these establishments are back in good terms after realizing their symbiotic relationship. The producer signed up for elite package for his next movie which went on to became a Super Hit movie this year.
3. Non-Monetary Favours
Sometimes, all that the media reviewers yearn for is certain amount of respect and recognition, in the form of celebrities picking up or returning their phone calls. One incident that is widely known in the industry is when a veteran reviewer invited a popular hero for a dinner interview, he refused to accommodate her request due to extremely tight shooting schedule. The reviewer taught this hero a lesson when his 'cool romance story' movie#6 released.
Another example is a director who traded his personal brand value in exchange for higher movie ratings. During a press meet, the director of 2012's most critically acclaimed movie#7 prostrated in front of media whole-heartedly requesting to support the movie. The press paid back this highly talented director's gesture by giving maximum rating possible (e.g., a leading Tamil weekly gave 5 out of 5 stars). Similarly, Box Office status are also influenced in the same model. A birthday party of an influential reviewer was fully sponsored by a top star. In return, a bombed movie of this top star received the "Hit" status in their annual Box office summary report.
None of these examples should be seen as blaming the reviewers. It is very natural for reviewers to genuinely help the celebrities who take the efforts to spend time and share good relationship with them at personal level. Hence, there is bound to be some natural bias in their reviews.
4. Competition among Media firms
Another major influencer of reviews and ratings is dictated by which media firm gets the priority access to exclusive photos, interviews and special news of upcoming big movies. This is usually brokered through the PROs between leading Tamil weeklies and Producers. Let's say if one of the weeklies receive exclusive photos and news from the movie, the other competing magazine would show their dissent by publishing a negative news about the movie and hence making their point clear. One such issue brought down Tamil's most successful director#8 who received a "one word" review for his movie dealing about youngsters.
Final Word
The purpose of this article is not to blame media houses for accepting "covers" or selling "packages" or expecting non-monetary favours. Let us be clear that media houses are not here for running charity services by refusing money for the reach that they are able to provide for movies. Nor the individual reviewers are Buddhas. Instead of viewers/readers having idealistic expectations from big media reviewers to be pristine clean, the responsibility should be on the viewers to be more discerning and smart when making the decision about how you want to spend your Rs.120.
Note: masked the names marked #1 to #9 to protect identities. Also Read,